Editing Snail (section)

==Human relevance==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2018}}
[[File:Snail-wiki-120-Zachi-Evenor.jpg|thumb|''[[Cornu aspersum]]'' – garden snail]]
Land snails are known as an agricultural and garden pest but some species are an edible delicacy and occasionally household [[pet]]s. In addition, their mucus can also be used for skin care products.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Howley |first=Elaine |date=18 July 2022 |title=Snail Mucin for Skin Care: Products and Uses |url=https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/snail-mucin-for-skin-care |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718220458/https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/snail-mucin-for-skin-care |archive-date=18 July 2023 |access-date=29 July 2023 |website=U.S. News}}</ref>

===In agriculture===
There is a variety of snail-control measures that gardeners and farmers use in an attempt to reduce damage to valuable plants. Traditional pesticides are still used, as are many less toxic control options such as concentrated [[garlic]] or [[Artemisia (plant)|wormwood]] solutions. [[Copper]] metal is also a snail repellent, and thus a copper band around the trunk of a tree will prevent snails from climbing up and reaching the foliage and fruit. A layer of a dry, finely ground, and scratchy substance such as [[diatomaceous earth]] can also deter snails.<ref>Sanders, April. [http://homeguides.sfgate.com/egg-shells-stop-snails-eating-plants-87576.html "Do Egg Shells Help Stop Snails From Eating Plants?"] Home Guides | [[SF Gate]]. Accessed 01 July 2019.</ref>

The [[decollate snail]] (''Rumina decollata'') will capture and eat garden snails, and because of this it has sometimes been introduced as a [[biological pest control]] agent. However, this is not without problems, as the decollate snail is just as likely to attack and devour other gastropods that may represent a valuable part of the native fauna of the region.
===Textiles===
Certain varieties of snails, notably the family [[Muricidae]], produce a secretion that is a color-fast [[natural dye]]. The ancient [[Tyrian purple]] was made in this way as were other purple and blue dyes.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ziderman |first=I. I. |year=1986 |title=Purple dye made from shellfish in antiquity |journal=Review of Progress in Coloration |issn=1472-3581 |volume=16 |pages=46–52|doi=10.1111/j.1478-4408.1986.tb03743.x }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Whelks and purple dye in Anglo-Saxon England |last=Biggam |first=Carole P. |journal=The Archeo+Malacology Group Newsletter |issue=9 |date=March 2006 |url=http://triton.anu.edu.au/MalacGp09.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Moorey |first=Peter |year=1999 |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmesopotam00moor |url-access=limited |publisher=Eisenbrauns |location=[[Winona Lake, Indiana]] |isbn=978-1-57506-042-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientmesopotam00moor/page/n81 138]}}</ref> The extreme expense of extracting this secretion is sufficient quantities limited its use to the very wealthy. It is such dyes as these that led to certain shades of purple and blue being associated with royalty and wealth.<ref name="Tyrian Purple">{{cite book |last=Nuttall |first=Zelia |author-link=Zelia Nuttall |editor1-last=Boas |editor1-first=Franz |year=1909 |chapter=A Curious Survival in Mexico of the Use of the Purpura Shell-fish for Dyeing |title=Putnam Anniversary Volume |volume=Anthropological Essays Presented to Fredrick Ward Putnam in Honor of his Seventieth Birthday, by his Friends and Associates |publisher=G. E. Stechert & Co. |location=New York |lccn=10011191 |pages=368–384 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924029880774}}</ref>

=== As pets ===
Throughout history, snails have been kept as pets. There are many famous snails such as [[Jeremy (snail)|Lefty]] (Born Jeremy) and within fiction, [[Gary Snail|Gary]] and [[Brian the Snail|Brian the snail]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/J1y1vyNcTlCsfp7CmQTz03/seven-of-the-worlds-most-famous-snails|title=BBC Radio 3 – Slow Radio – Seven of the world's most famous snails|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref>

===Culinary use===
{{Main article|Snails as food}}

[[File:Cooked snails.JPG|thumb|right|[[Escargot|French cooked snails]]]]
In [[French cuisine]], edible snails are served for instance in ''[[Escargot]] à la [[Burgundy|Bourguignonne]]''. The practice of rearing snails for food is known as [[heliciculture]]. For purposes of cultivation, the snails are kept in a dark place in a wired cage with dry straw or dry wood. [[Coppiced]] wine-grape vines are often used for this purpose. During the rainy period, the snails come out of [[Land snail#Hibernation and estivation|hibernation]] and release most of their mucus onto the dry wood/straw. The snails are then prepared for cooking. Their texture when cooked is slightly chewy and tender.

As well as being eaten as gourmet food, several species of land snails provide an easily harvested source of [[Protein (nutrient)|protein]] to many people in poor communities around the world. Many land snails are valuable because they can feed on a wide range of agricultural wastes, such as shed leaves in [[banana plantations]]. In some countries, [[giant African land snail]]s are produced commercially for food.

Land snails, freshwater snails and sea snails are all eaten in many countries. In certain parts of the world snails are fried. For example, in [[Indonesia]], they are fried as [[satay]], a dish known as ''[[sate kakul]]''. The eggs of certain snail species are eaten in a fashion similar to the way [[caviar]] is eaten.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-snails-idUSL2055417620071220 | title=The height of slow-food, France serves snail caviar | newspaper=Reuters | date=20 December 2007 }}</ref>

In [[Bulgaria]], snails are traditionally cooked in an oven with rice or fried in a pan with vegetable oil and red paprika powder. Before they are used for those dishes, however, they are thoroughly boiled in hot water (for up to 90 minutes) and manually extracted from their shells. The two species most commonly used for food in the country are ''[[Helix lucorum]]'' and ''[[Helix pomatia]]''.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

Snails and slug species that are not normally eaten in certain areas have occasionally been used as [[famine food]] in historical times. A history of Scotland written in the 1800s recounts a description of various snails and their use as food items in times of plague.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chambers |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Chambers (publisher born 1802) |year=1858|title=Domestic annals of Scotland, from the reformation to the revolution |publisher=[[Chambers Harrap|W. & R. Chambers]] |url=https://archive.org/details/domesticannalsof02chamiala}} (Also quoted [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/domestic/vol2ch2c.htm here].</ref>

===Cultural depictions===
[[File:Mochesnail.jpg|thumb|Land snails (''[[Scutalus]]'' sp.) on a [[Moche (culture)|Moche]] pot, 200 AD, [[Larco Museum|Larco Museum Collection]], Lima, Peru]]

Because of its slowness, the snail has traditionally been seen as a symbol of laziness. In Christian culture, it has been used as a symbol of the [[Seven deadly sins|deadly sin]] of [[Sloth (deadly sin)|sloth]].<ref name="deVries76">{{cite book |last=de Vries |first=Ad |year=1976 |title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery |publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-7204-8021-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/430 430] |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/430 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tresidder |first=Jack |year=2006 |title=Symbols and Their Meanings |publisher=Barnes & Noble |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7607-8164-7 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlVsHBc443gC&q=The+snail+was+also+a+Christian+emblem+of+sloth.+...}}</ref> In [[Mayan mythology]], the snail is associated with sexual desire, being [[personification|personified]] by the god [[Uayeb]].<ref>Susan Milbrath, Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars, University of Texas Press, 01/01/2010</ref>

Snails were widely noted and used in [[divination]].<ref name="deVries76"/> The [[Greeks|Greek]] poet [[Hesiod]] wrote that snails signified the time to harvest by climbing the stalks, while the [[Aztec mythology|Aztec]] moon god [[Tecciztecatl]] bore a snail shell on his back. This symbolised rebirth; the snail's penchant for appearing and disappearing was analogised with the [[moon]].<ref name="Cooper92">{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=J. C. |year=1992 |title=Symbolic and Mythological Animals |publisher=Aquarian Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-85538-118-6 |page=213}}</ref>

[[File:Dewi Sekartaji Keong Emas.JPG|thumb|Dewi Sekartaji as Keong Emas]]

[[Keong Emas]] ([[Javanese language|Javanese]] and [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] for '''Golden Snail''') is a popular [[Javanese culture|Javanese]] [[folklore]] about a princess magically transformed and contained in a [[Pomacea canaliculata|golden snail]] shell. The folklore is a part of popular Javanese [[Panji (prince)|Panji cycle]] telling the stories about the prince Panji Asmoro Bangun (also known as Raden Inu Kertapati) and his consort, princess Dewi Sekartaji (also known as Dewi Chandra Kirana).

In contemporary speech, the expression "a snail's pace" is often used to describe a slow, inefficient process. The phrase "[[snail mail]]" is used to mean regular postal service delivery of paper messages as opposed to the delivery of [[email]], which can be virtually instantaneous.